Tennis ball holder



March 16, 1937. F. J. HATLEY TENNIS BALL HOLDER Filed April e, 1936 wasI 2.014.

, V 1 T t 2,074,180

TENNIS BALL HOLDER .Fred J. Hatley, Maywood, Ill. Application April 6,1936, Serial No. 72,872 4 Claims- (Cl. 22M); 1 t This invention relatesto tennis ballholders, ingsuch as the belt II. The holder or holders andamong other objects aims to provide a simple maybe located intheposltions which are most and efiectivemeans for relieving a tennisplayer convenient tothe particular player. or the necessity oi'holdingspare. tennis ballsin The holder may advantageously comprise a 5 thehand, and yet which will makei't possible single strand of wire (such asspring brass wire 5 tosecure'another ball as conveniently and quickly or16 to 18 gauge) bent to form the rings and as though it had been carriedin the hand. the-hook l6 integral therewith. The .folding or Thenatureof the invention may be readily bending of the wireto form thevariouselements understood by reference to one illustrative device maybeconsiderably .varied. One method of 10 embodying the same and shown inthe accombending the wire is illustratedinFig. 3. Asthere l0 panyingdrawing. shown, a portion adjacent oneend or the wire is In saiddrawing: I I A bent into the lower loop Ill, the extremity of such Fig.1 is a perspective view or a single holder portion being indicated atl8; and a portion at secured to the belt of a player; i p j the oppositeend or the wire is bent to form the Fig. 2 is aside view of the holder;and upper ring I l, the opposite extremity of the wire 15 Fig. 3 is arear elevation thereof. being indicated at It and in this case lyingadja- Many tennis players find it difiicult to serve or cent. theextremity IS; The intermediate portion toplay effectively while carryingspare [tennis of the wire comprises'the upwardly extending balls, andyet are obliged to do so because of the members and the integral hookmember i6 an inconvenience which would otherwise ensue. The which isflared outwardly as indicated at 2| to 20 illustrative device may becarried on the person provide a wider bearing surface. The wire exinsuch a way as not to interfere with the players tremities l8 and is,together with the members freedom or play; it is adapted to release or.to 20 are preferably bound or anchored together by receivea ball with asingle movement of the a binding member in the form of a strap or ofclothing of the wearer when not in use. one pointlor the respectiverings Ill and I I so as As here shown, the device comprises a pair 01 togive them the necessary anchorage for the resiliently mounted rings Inand II, in this case resilient pressure which they are requiredto exertof spring wire, whose diameter is substantially in holding a tennisball. I! desired, the bindin to less than that of the tennis'ball theyare intended action of the member 22 may be supplemented 3 to hold. Atone point in the circumference of by solder 23 so as more firmly toanchor the sev--v *each of the rings they are mounted to a base I!eralstrands of the wire against relativedisplacein such a way asresiliently to resist separation; ment inside the member 22. The freeend or the In unstrained relationshipthe rings are sepaf loop I6 isarranged so as to converge upon the v 3 rated at one point by a distanceA, which is great base l2 thereby making it possible for the hook enoughin relation to the diameter or the tennis to grip the portion ortheclothing where applied. ball for the rings to be spread apart by a'tennis I The doubled parts or the wire strand adjacent ball it when thelatter is pushed between the the extremity 24 or the hook mayadvantageously rings (see dotted lines l3 in Fig. 2). when he broughtinto parallel relationship as illustrated pushed completely into theholder, the rings close at 25 to make it possible to anchor the hook tosomewhat (to the positions indicated by the dota button 26 inside thebelt. In applying and reted lines at I4 and i5 in Fig. 2) andresiliently moving the holder the button head passes through embracethe. ball ufl i n y firm y to prevent its the flared portion 2| or thehook. The extremity accidental discharge from the holder. Neverthee 24is outwardly flared to facilitate application.

less, the ball can be withdrawn easily by hand Being made practicallywholly from inexpen 45 simply by grasping and pulling it away from thesive' wire the device may be made at extremely rings which thereuponresiliently separate to relow cost. It is so lig t in weight that asmany lease the ballr as necessary may be worn by the player without Theholder is advantageously provided with consciousness of their presence.5o

. some means by which it may conveniently be Obviously the invention is.not limited to the attached to and detached from the clothing of detailsof the illustrative'device since these may the wearer. In the presentinstance, such atbe variously modified. Moreover it is not intachingmeans are represented by hook l6 adaptdispensable that all features orthis invention be ed to fit over some portion of the wearer's clothusedconjointly since various features may be 55 hand; and can be easilydisconnected from the a fiat sleeve 22 which provides a firm anchor at25 r 2 2,074,1ao i used to advantage in different combinations and theattachment of said holder to the clothing sub-combinations. oi the user.Having described my invention, I claim: 3. A tennis ball holder 01 thecharacter de- 1. A tennis ball combination a strand of spring wire, saidwire being bent adjacent each end into the form of a ring whose diameteris less than that of a tennis ball, said rings being relativeLv arrangedwith their planes in outwardly diverging relationship, the remainingportions 01' said wire being bent into parallel relationship at thepoint of closest convergence of said rings and extending from such pointin a direction substantially transverse to the planes of said rings,means for binding said wire together adjacent said point of closestconvergence of said rings to anchor said rings, a portion of the wire inparallel relationship being bent over to form a hook for attaching saidholder to the clothing of the user.

2. A tennis ball holder of the character described comprising strand ofwire bent ring whose diameter is less than that 01' a tennis to anchorsaid rings to permit relative flexure, Said rings diverging outwardlyfrom the point of anchoring at such relative angle as to be sprung apartupon the insertion of a tennis ball, the remaining portions of the wireextending from the point of anchoring at an angle to the planes ofsaid-rings and being bent to form a hook for holder or the characterde-' scribed comprising in strand of wire bent in combination aresilient in combination a resilient adjacent each end into a ring whosediameter is lessthan ball. the portions of scribed comprising the wireat the of anchoring at such relativefangle as to be sprung apart uponthe insertion oi a tennis ball,

the remaining portions of the from the point of wire extendingthatotatennis anchoring being doubled and. being bent into hook form,the doubled portions 4. A tennis ball holder of the character describedFRED J. HA'ILEYi

